Object category

Object Categories in Grammar

In English grammar, an object refers to the noun, pronoun, or noun phrase affected by the action of a verb. For example, in the sentence "I fixed my shoes," the object is 'my shoes.'

Objects appear in both grammatical voices in English, i.e., active and passive.

Sentences written in the active voice contain a subject (a person, animal, place, or thing) actively performing the verb. These sentences tell us what the subject is doing. Active sentences typically follow this structure: subject ---> verb ---> object (SVO). This means the object comes last, for example:

Fig. 1 - The object comes last in a sentence written in the active voice.

On the other hand, with sentences written in the passive voice, the object (the person, animal, place, or thing affected by an action) assumes the position of the subject. These sentences tell us what is being done to something or someone. For example:

Fig. 2 - The object acts as a subject in sentences written in the passive voice.

In passive sentences, the focus is on the receiver of the action (the letter) instead of the person doing the action (Tom).

Types of Object

There are three types of objects:

1. Direct objects

2. Indirect objects

3. Objects of a preposition

Let's take a look at each of these in more detail:

Direct Objects

Direct objects are the person, animal, place, or thing directly affected by the verb's action. For example:

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

It is important to know about transitive and intransitive verbs as they are both used for different reasons:

Transitive verbs are verbs that must act upon an object. Without an object, the sentence will not make sense.

Intransitive verbs are verbs that do not need to act upon an object for the sentence to make sense.

Some verbs can be either transitive or intransitive depending on what comes after them. For example:

Indirect Objects

Indirect objects are the person or thing that receives the direct object. This means that indirect objects can only be found in sentences with direct objects. They are usually placed between the action verb and the direct object. For example:

Indirect Object Categories

We will now take a look at some different ways to create indirect objects. There are three ways to create indirect objects:

1. Using one word (a noun or pronoun)

Here, the pronoun 'him' is the indirect object, as it is the receiver of the direct object (chocolate).

2. Using two or more words (e.g., article + noun, adjective + noun)

Here, the indirect object is made up of the definite article 'the', the adjective 'kind', and the noun 'nurse.'

3. Using a prepositional phrase (a group of words consisting of a preposition, an object, and/or any modifiers).

Here, the indirect object is 'her friend', and is written in the form of a prepositional phrase that begins with the preposition 'to.'

Objects of a Preposition

Objects of a preposition refer to a noun or pronoun that comes after a preposition. These objects receive the action of a verb but need a preposition for the sentence to make sense.

An example of an object of a preposition is:

Object Categories Example

Below are some examples of direct objects in sentences (using both active and passive voices). The objects are in bold:

Below are some examples of sentences that include both direct and indirect objects. The direct objects are in blue, and the indirect objects are in pink:

As not every sentence contains them, here are some examples of sentences without objects:

Object Categories and Subject - What is the Difference?

An object refers to the person or thing that receives the verb's action. On the other hand, the subject refers to the person or thing doing the action. In a sentence with an active voice, the subject goes first, followed by the verb, and finally the object. For example:

In a sentence with a passive voice, the object acts as the subject, so it comes first, whereas the actual subject comes last. For example, instead of writing, "I took a photo," the passive voice would be "a photo was taken by me."

A subject is always needed to create a complete sentence, along with a verb. But, objects are not always needed in a sentence.